VOCABULARY RELATING TO CRIME

The People
a law-abiding citizen; a victim of crime; a witness; a traffic cop; a
detective
a criminal; an offender; a juvenile delinquent; a hooligan; a scammer; a
gangster; a pickpocket
a suspect in an investigation; the suspect is still at large

Behavior
follow the law; break the law; commit a crime; infringe the law
enforce the law; the police arrested a suspect and charged him with
murder; the detective followed the clues and apprehended the suspect

Crimes
a misdemeanor; a minor offence; prevalent crime; a telephone scam; an
Internet scam; Internet crime; cyber crime
the crime scene; forensic evidence
a felony; a serious crime; murder; homicide; kidnapping; extortion

Punishments
a stiff penalty; a light sentence; receive a fine; be fined; pay a fine
capital punishment is a good deterrent; I want to abolish the death
penalty
he was sent to jail; he received a jail sentence; the judge sentenced her
to prison; he did time in jail
he was released on parole

Ms. Phuong Anh – 0967 728 287

The Courts
a trial; a judge; a jury; a defense lawyer; a prosecutor; he was accused of
robbery; he appeared in court; he pleaded not guilty; the evidence was
overwhelming
he was found guilty of rape; the jury reached/returned a not-guilty
verdict; the jury acquitted him
he was convicted of murder; justice was served

Practice by answering Speaking Module questions:

Part 1
▪ What problems affect your hometown?
▪ Is the crime rate high in your country? hometown?
▪ What types of crimes are common nowadays?
▪ Do the police do a good job of maintaining law and order? Can they
enforce the law?
▪ What’s the best way to lower the crime rate? Zero tolerance?
▪ What is crime prevention?
▪ How do the police catch villains?
▪ What is a corrupt cop? a dirty cop?
▪ Do citizens here obey traffic laws? Have you ever been stopped by a
cop? gotten a ticket?
▪ Have you ever been a victim of crime?
What’s a felony? How does id differ from a misdemeanor?

Ms. Phuong Anh – 0967 728 287